3-D PRINTERS USED MAKE CUSTOM MEDICAL IMPLANTS
A team of researchers at Louisiana Tech
University has developed an innovative method for using affordable,
consumer-grade 3D printers and materials to fabricate custom medical implants
that can contain antibacterial and chemotherapeutic compounds for targeted drug
delivery.
The team comprised of
doctoral students and research faculty from Louisiana Tech's biomedical
engineering and nanosystems engineering programs collaborated to create
filament extruders that can make medical-quality 3D printing filaments.
Creating these filaments, which have specialized properties for drug delivery,
is a new concept that can result in smart drug delivering medical implants or
catheters.
"After
identifying the usefulness of the 3D printers, we realized there was an
opportunity for rapid prototyping using this fabrication method," said
Jeffery Weisman, a doctoral student in Louisiana Tech's biomedical engineering
program. "Through the addition of nanoparticles and/or other additives,
this technology becomes much more viable using a common 3D printing material
that is already biocompatible. The material can be loaded with antibiotics or
other medicinal compounds, and the implant can be naturally broken down by the
body over time."
According to Weisman,
personalized medicine and patient specific medication regiments is a current
trend in healthcare. He says this new method of creating medically compatible
3D printing filaments will offer hospital pharmacists and physicians a novel
way to deliver drugs and treat illness.
"One of the
greatest benefits of this technology is that it can be done using any consumer
printer and can be used anywhere in the world," Weisman said.
Weisman, who works out
of a lab directed by Dr. David K. Mills, professor of biological sciences and
biomedical engineering, partnered with Connor Nicholson, a doctoral candidate
in nanosystems engineering and member of a lab operated by Dr. Chester Wilson,
associate professor of electrical and nanosystems engineering, to develop the
technology in collaboration with Mills. The group also worked with
Extrusionbot, LLC of Phoenix, Arizona, who provided important materials support
throughout the development and testing process.
"We had been
working on several applications of 3D printing," said Mills. "Several
students in my lab including Jeff and Connor, who was a guest researcher from
Dr. Wilson's lab, had been working with colleagues for some time. I sent an
email to them and asked them the question, 'Do you think it would be possible
to print antibiotic beads using some kind of PMMA or other absorbable
material?'"
From that point, the
technology evolved and has become a highly innovative approach to overcoming
many of the limitations encountered in current drug delivery systems. Most of
today's antibiotic implants, or "beads," are made out of bone cements
which have to be hand-mixed by a surgeon during a surgical procedure and
contain toxic carcinogenic substances. These beads, which are actually a type
of Plexiglas, do not break down in the body and require additional surgery for
removal. Weisman and his team's custom 3D print filaments can be made of
bioplastics which can be resorbed by the body to avoid the need for additional
surgery.
The nature of the 3D
printing process developed at Louisiana Tech allows for the creation of
partially hollow beads that provide for a greater surface area and increased
drug delivery and control. Localized treatment with the 3D printed antibiotic
beads also avoids large systemic drug dosages that are toxic and can cause
damage to a patient's liver and kidneys.
"Currently,
embedding of additives in plastic requires industrial-scale facilities to
ensure proper dispersion throughout the extruded plastic," explains Mills.
"Our method enables dispersion on a tabletop scale, allowing researchers
to easily customize additives to the desired levels. There are not even any
industrial processes for antibiotics or special drug delivery as injection
molding currently focuses more on colorants and cosmetic properties."
"It is truly
novel and a worldwide first to be 3D printing custom devices with antibiotics
and chemotherapeutics."
The team said the
environment at Louisiana Tech played a large role in this project making the
progress it has, in a relatively short period of time. "The project has
been able to advance to this point because of the support of and easy access to
interdisciplinary facilities and outstanding faculty such as Drs. Mills, Wilson
and [Dr. Mark] DeCoster," said Weisman. "They and their labs have
been crucial in taking cell culture and chemotherapeutic related aspects of
this project to the next level"
"It is important
to continue support of this research and to help bring Louisiana Tech to the
forefront of rapid prototyping designs that will have impacts on a national
scale."
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